Franklin had talked to Knowles in December 2021 shortly after defensive coordinator Brent Pry, one of his longtime assistants, left Penn State to become head coach at Virginia Tech. Knowles wound up going to Ohio State and the Lions ended up hiring Manny Diaz, who enjoyed two very successful seasons before he became head coach at Duke.

In the days after the Orange Bowl, Penn State’s players gathered on campus for a team meeting. At that point in January, they found out defensive coordinator Tom Allen was leaving for Clemson and that James Franklin would do his part to hire the best candidate he could.

For the second season in a row and the third time in four seasons, Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin was forced to hire a new defensive coordinator. He, ultimately, landed on poaching Jim Knowles from the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Penn State made one of the biggest hires of the offseason, poaching away Jim Knowles from Ohio State. Knowles was the defensive coordinator at Ohio State for the last three seasons and helped the program win its first national title in a decade during the 2024 season.

In a new interview, Penn State's defensive coordinator says he's going to build the No. 1 defense with the Nittany Lions.

Penn State head coach James Franklin met with the media Tuesday afternoon to preview the 2025 offseason and winter updates. Franklin discussed several topics, including the Super Bowl, hiring Jim Knowles, winter conditioning, Ja'Juan Seider's departure and much more.

Franklin and Knowles previously had discussed a job at Penn State. An early morning call two days after Ohio State's national championship began the process.